Alyce’s Final Reflections
When Dennis passed away I was filled with 1,000 different emotions. I felt that they were all boiling up inside of me and I had no way of getting them out. I was looking for an outlet and found that swimming allowed me to relax or when needed, I could swim really hard to get some of the anger out with no one else aware of what was going on.
Seeing how much I enjoyed swimming, Dad suggested that I start training with his triathlon club, the Tridents. It took me a few weeks to get the courage up but eventually I went along and honestly, I have never looked back. The people there were amazing. They accepted me straight away and I loved the fact that none of them knew about Dennis and I would always leave training with a smile. I think this was partly from all the endorphins I was getting but also from being around so many encouraging and inspiring people.
Four years later, Dad, Dan and I started talking about the possibility of riding to Perth to raise money for the Black Dog Institute and I felt that I couldn’t let the opportunity to raise awareness of mental disorders pass by while also getting to do something that has helped me significantly.
The months leading up to it were very stressful, trying to make sure we had everything we needed for the trip, as well as organising various fundraising activities but ultimately we all made it to the start line.
When we set off from Canberra on Saturday 28 November I was really excited about what was coming up but also incredibly nervous. I knew that the ride was going to be an amazing adventure but I was also unsure about what mother nature would throw at us and how well I would cope on the 200km+ days (as the furthest I had ridden before this was about 160km the week before).
The first 5 day section through to Renmark absolutely flew by. I couldn’t believe how far we had already come and I was worried that it was all going to be over before I knew it. But as we settled into the second stage of the ride things started to slow down and I knew it was going to take a little more mental strength to get through each day now that the initial hype was over.
There were some days where time absolutely flew by and I felt like I could have ridden another 50-100km at the end of the day but there were others when I felt like I watched every kilometre tick over and it seemed like we were never going to get to our destination. There were also days when we were overtired and it wouldn’t take much to set us off into hysterical laughter about things that really weren’t that funny (ok, it was usually only me that got hysterical but at least it made the others feel funny).
The biggest highlight of the ride for me is still the ride from Nullarbor Motel to Eucla where at each stop we could enjoy the views of the Great Australian Bight. It was truly spectacular and the fact that we had such great conditions on the day made it even more so.
The scariest part of the trip was coming off my bike on the second last day. When I was coming back into consciousness after the fall I didn’t know how bad it was and I was extremely worried that I wouldn’t be able to get through the last day.
Pulling into Kings Park at the end bought on a mixture of emotions. I was relieved to finally get there but also a little disappointed that our adventure was over. It was an amazing journey and I am so glad that I could share it with Mum, Dad, Dan, Fran, Dugald and Judy.
Thank you so much to both support crews. You were all amazing in your own ways and I really couldn’t have done it without you.
And finally, thanks to everyone for all your support. It’s been wonderful getting all the texts, emails and phone calls of encouragement along the way and I look forward to seeing you all when I get back.
